


Fury

by StarGazer (StarGazer0365)



Series: Fury (Hermitcraft Fanfiction) [2]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Griangst, Hurt/Comfort, I'll add more tags as i go, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, K that's enough tags for now, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Tags Contain Spoilers, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Winged!Grian, but none too important to the plot, like when a big part of the story hits, no they dont, okay maybe a little, permadeath? maybe..., poor mumbo, some singing, therapist!joe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28779219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarGazer0365/pseuds/StarGazer
Summary: Grian loves who he is. At least, he used to. When you're thrown into a new environment with new people but at a risk, how are you supposed to act? Grian has to figure out the answer once again, but this time it's harder than expected.(READ THE PROLOGUE FIRST!)
Series: Fury (Hermitcraft Fanfiction) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2109939
Comments: 17
Kudos: 93





	1. The Hole

The bell rang and Grian looked around. Tokyo was such a big city, yet it seemed so small to him. Taurtis exited the school doors behind him.

“Yeah, Tokyo is way different from the States, huh?” He asked, as he could clearly read his friend’s mind by his expression.

Grian nodded, “or the UK.”

“Well, I best get going, Sam and I are going to KFC and...you know..”

“Yeah,” Grian chuckled. “You need to tell him to stop murdering strangers.”

“Yup!” Taurtis called. “Well, see you tomorrow!”

“Bye!” Grian called out to his best friend. They walked separate ways, but it felt like they were walking together. 

Grian looked around Tokyo. He moved away from the US to go to Tokyo with Taurtis, and that was his home for the next 2 years after that. Grian loved Tokyo. The city was buzzing with people, the community was great, and he even learned a new language! The food was really good, and Grian was obsessed with sushi. He was really skilled at using chopsticks, so he fit in perfectly with everyone else. Some people would even be confused when they learned he was from England. Grian enjoyed his life, his friends, and the culture. Everyday was a roller coaster and he loved it. He guessed that was a perk of the Tokyo lifestyle.

Grian was so distracted in his thoughts that he didn’t even notice a sewage hole in front of him. Clueless, he fell in and began tumbling down. He yelled for help but nobody heard him. 

_ Well, unless I am found and helped, this is it. _

Grian opened his wings, expecting to pull up...but nothing. His wings wouldn’t open. He was pulled down, his eyes shut, but then he stopped crashing. He opened his eyes and looked around. He was in some sort of black, endless void space. He could still tell he was falling, but he couldn’t move now. Grian knew this wasn’t Tokyo anymore, this was tourture. 

After a while, he crashed to the ground. Grian limply used his arms to help himself up. He could move again, but he was in the void still. He ran around in a panic.

_ Where am I? What is this place? What the-? _

He ran to what seemed like a wall and looked at himself closely in the black, reflective surface. Grian got a good look at himself before panicking. His anxiety took hold of him as he looked around. He ran, yelling for help but only hearing his echoes as a response. Soon, he found something strange. A white button which read,  _ HCS6 _ was implanted on the strange wall. Grian couldn’t ever resist pressing buttons, but this time he hesitated before pressing.

“ _ HCS6 _ ? What does that mean?” he asked.

After standing there for about a minute, curiosity got the better of him and he pressed it. A trapdoor-like contraption opened beneath his feet.

He sighed, “I’m falling... _ again.. _ ”

But, instead of more void, he saw a blue sky and clouds around him. The further he fell, the more and more he saw.

Then he crashed onto land.


	2. The Welcoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian lands on the strange piece of land he saw when he fell through the void. He's not in Tokyo anymore, that's for sure.

“What the heck happened there?” Grian asked himself as he rose off the ground. 

He looked around his area trying to find any clues on where he might be. The strange area had water and trees, and soon he realised that it was _all_ nature.

 _Nature?_ he asked himself. _In Tokyo, there is hardly any nature._

He began pacing around nervously. Where was he now? He tried his best to make out any clues on where he might be, but nothing came to mind. What did catch his attention was a strange portal. It was outlined in black with transparent purple swirls in the middle. He didn’t know what it was, so he backed away. Suddenly, the portal made some noise. Startled, he jumped back further.

“Huh? What's happening?” Grian asked anxiously.

Then he saw some arms. Then some legs. Then some torsos. Out of the portal came about 20 people, all cheering excitedly. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Grian standing there like a deer in the headlights. 

* * *

“Woah!”

“Who’s this?” 

“Do you know?”

“I don‘t know! You?

“No clue!”

Grian stood there nervously. He was approached by a man in green armor. He was wearing a grey helmet with a purple visor, so it was hard to see his face. The rest of him was light green and beige. It looked peculiar, yet cool all at once.

The man stuck out his hand. “‘Ello there!”

Grian nervously reached out his own. “Uh...hi?”

The armored man chuckled. “Don’t be afraid, I’m just a turtle man!”

The people behind him laughed at the interaction. 

Grian was confused. Slowly, he put away his hand.

“How did you get here, stranger?” asked the turtle.

“Uh...I’m not exactly sure.” Grian replied. “Portal stuff.”

The turtle man laughed. “Well, we all start somewhere. Were you on the whitelist?”

Grian shook his head. “Not at all. I don’t even know what this place is!”

The turtle looked confused, tilting his head to the side like an intrigued puppy. “This is Hermitcraft!”

“Her-mit-what?”

The turtle chuckled, “Yeah, it's hard to pronounce sometimes. Oh! I haven’t introduced myself! My name is Xisumavoid, but you can call me X. I’m the admin!”

“Cool!” Grian responded. “I’m Grian!” 

He felt his tension leave him slowly. This man seemed nice. But Grian was still hearing unsettling murmurs behind the admin.

“So..” X began. “If you’re not from the whitelist, then where _are_ you from? I mean, either way it’s impossible for someone to get here without being chosen from the whitelist. You’d have to get permission from me to come, so what happened? How’d you get here before us?”

Grian shrugged. “I don’t know.”

X turned around and looked at the other people, concerned. They looked back at him, everyone having the same expression.

“Well,” Xisuma said, “I guess you're here now, Grian.”

“I guess I am.” Grian nodded.

“Well then...welcome!” X’s tone changed from concerning to welcoming. 

“Can you tell me what this place is and what you do here, Admin Xisuma?” Grian asked. He still was in the dark about this.

“Oh, of course!” X smiled. “Hermitcraft is a community of people that get together to make things. We have seasons for each world, and right now you appeared in Season 6. We make games, shops, and have fun times. It’s pretty cool.”

“Oh.” Grian nodded. “That makes sense. So, where are all the shops? And the banks? And the city?”

“City?” laughed another man behind X. 

“Oh, I guess I should mention that we survive and fend for ourselves. _We_ build the city. Then, when we’re done, we go onto a new world and start fresh.” X explained.

“So you abandon _everything_?” Grian asked.

“Well, yes. In a sense. We can revisit old worlds if my admin power allows it.” X nodded.

“I guess I’m stuck here until I get home, so I suppose I am a part of this craziness now.”

“You are now officially a Hermit! Welcome to Hermitcraft!”

“O-Okay.”

X led Grian to the group.

“Hermits, meet our newest recruit, Grian!”

“Hello!” cheered the other Hermits.

* * *

Grian felt odd but played along. Everybody surrounded X to hear what he had to say. X spoke about the topics and the world and communities and teaming up and such, and Grian understood, but it still felt weird being a part of a new community.

_Where did Tokyo go? What exactly is Hermitcraft? How did I get here? What was that portal? Who is X? What was he wearing? Why is there nature? How will I survive? Why is there still no city? Is this a nightmare? Is Taurtis alright? What if this is the afterlife? What if-_

His thoughts were cut off by his name being called. He shook his head as if his thoughts were an etch-a-sketch.

“Did you hear all that, G?” X asked. 

Grian nodded, “Sure did!”

“Okay, well, I officially declare that Hermitcraft Season 6 has begun!” X announced. Right when he spoke those words, everybody rushed to go punch some trees, dig up dirt, and make materials. Grian stood behind X, hiding behind him like a kid at the supermarket. 

X laughed. “I suggest you team up with someone to better know the community. The more you know, the more materials you get. Maybe one of the Hermits can show you the ropes.”

* * *

There were 24 trees in total, approximately how many people were there. But there wasn’t a tree for him. He looked around at everything. He hadn’t seen nature like this before, but it was so beautiful. The glistening water, the swaying leaves, and the tall blades of grass. It was so nice to see and G was mesmerized. 

He quickly stopped looking at the scenery and ran up to the first person he saw. The man was hard to miss. He looked about 6 feet tall and he wore all black. Grian was 5’6, so it wasn’t that bad, but he could still tell that he was the shortest person on that island. 

He jumped up to the tall man. 

“Hi!” he exclaimed.

The tall gentleman was surprised. “Oh, hello! Sorry, you scared me. Pardon me, I was just getting resources. What do you need, Grian?”

Grian looked at the tall man. He had neat, black hair and a black moustache. He was wearing a black suit with grey shoes. His eyes were hazel and he too was British, just like Grian and X. He looked rather proper for surviving alone.

“C-can we team up? This ‘surviving’ thing is new to me and I was thinking that I could use some help.” Grian explained.

“Sure!” the tall Englishman replied. “Here, take some resources!” He shoved some wood and weapons into Grian’s arms.

Grian helped the man collect resources. The two talked about survival skills while they worked. Grian was happy to meet new people, even if he _was_ shy. 

“Oh, I never introduced myself, the name’s Mumbo Jumbo!”

“My name’s GrianMC!”

“Nice to formally meet you Grian!”

“You too, Mr. Jumbo!”

“Welcome to your new home, Hermitcraft.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo! Second chapter!
> 
> I just want to thank you all for the kudos, no clue how you found the story, but I appreciate it with all my heart and I hope you liked this chapter, too!


	3. Boats and Hoes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian and Mumbo head out on their quest to find a place to rest during the start of season 6. Of course, something has to mess up.

Grian and Mumbo worked very, very hard to get resources. They were one of the only people left there on that island by the end, but both were glad to get extra resources that others wouldn’t get. 

“Well, I crafted up a boat, so we can head to another island to get more resources for our quest, okay G?”

Grian nodded happily. It was nice to have a friend. Mumbo put the boat in the water and called out for G, who began wandering over. 

“Wait!” yelled X, running up to Grian. He handed Grian a silver wristwatch with a blue button.

“What’s this for?” Grian asked. He played around with the watch. 

Xisuma stopped him before he broke it. “This is your communicator. When the blue button flashes, click it and you’ll see the chat. That’s where we talk to each other when we are too far away to talk face to face. Mumbo can teach you, I'm sure. Just ask him later.”

Grian nodded. “Communicator...got it! Thanks sir!”

“Good luck out there, kid!” 

Grian ran to Mumbo. Mumbo took Grian’s hand and helped him board the boat. Mumbo sat in the front seat and grabbed the oars.

“Alright, I got the oars.”

“Okay, Mr. Jumbly.”

“J-Jumbo, you mean?”

“Yeah, totally.”

Grian laughed which made Mumbo laugh as well. Mumbo rowed the two out to the horizon looking for new land.

* * *

The admin watched the interaction. He took off his helmet when he was sure he was alone, his brown hair flowing in the wind, his purple freckles glistening in the sun. He smiled.

“He found a friend, good for him. Now, I better get to preparing myself.”

* * *

Grian looked at the ocean. He saw the kelp and coral. He saw the fish and squids. He even saw these weird blue zombie creatures. Needless to say, Grian loved the ocean and didn’t speak for a while. He put his hand in the water and gasped when a dolphin grazed his fingertips. He especially got excited when he saw a school of fish for the first time.

Mumbo grinned. “You seem to love the ocean, huh G?”

Grian nodded, “It’s my first time seeing the ocean, sir!”

Mumbo’s eyes grew wide. “Oh dear, really?”

Grian smiled, “Yes! It’s so beautiful though, Mr. Jumbo!”

The Englishman smirked. “You don’t need to be so proper with me, kid. I’m not royalty!”

The smaller Hermit stuck his tongue out. “I know.”

He learned over the boat further, dunking his hand in the water so he could feel it more. After a while, Mumbo began humming, which escalated into singing. 

“ _ Fly me to the moon. Let me play among the stars~” _

“Mumbo, sir.”

“Yeah, G?”

“What are you singing?”

“Oh, just some songs from the 60’s. One of my favorite era’s.”

“Oh okay.”

“Would you like me to stop, Grian?”

“No mister, I was just curious.”

“Alright then.”

It went like that for a while. Mumbo sang songs from the 50s and 60s while Grian looked in the ocean. Soon, Grian began tilting the boat with his sudden movements.

“Hey Grian, can you be careful? I don’t want the boat to ti-”

Mumbo couldn’t finish his sentence before the boat did indeed tip over. Grian fell off the boat, but he had never seen the ocean before so he didn’t know how to swim. 

“MUMBO!!” he yelled before he was submerged into the water. Mumbo looked down. Below Grian was a water ravine with magma blocks all around it. The current was strong there. 

“GRIAN!” Mumbo yelled. “SWIM UP!”

Grian stayed silent. His bubbles began going down and soon, so did his breath. Mumbo swam down holding an oar in his left hand. He went besides the current and reached out for Grian.

“Grab on!” he shrieked. But Grian couldn’t hear him. His eyes began to shut.

In a panic, Mumbo got in the current, grabbed Grian, and swam with all his force to get to the surface. He fixed the boat, placed an unconscious Grian in, and rowed to the nearest plot of land. He set Grian down on the shore and sat there by his side, his heart still going fast. He just hoped Grian’s was still beating.

* * *

“Grian?” Mumbo asked. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Grian drowsily responded. “Mumbo?”

Mumbo beamed. He hugged Grian tightly. “You’re okay!”

“I guess so, but can you stop? I’m not much of a hugger.”

“Oh, okay sure.” Mumbo responded, letting go of the hug.

“What happened there?” Grian asked.

“You almost drowned. How’s your hearts?”

Grian checked for a second. “I have 5 hearts left.”

“Ooh...stay here. I’ll go get some food.” Mumbo instructed while running off into the forest behind them.

Grian laid there on the sandy shore near the ocean. He looked in the water and saw a turtle arrive. He smiled. The turtle looked cute. It crawled next to him.

“Aw, look at you!” Grian squealed. He looked out into the ocean, placing his hand on the turtle’s shell, who adjusted to the placement.

_ The ocean is nice but mean. 2. Be careful. 3. Nature is helpful.  _ He listed in his mind as he gazed out to the shining sea.

The waves splashed further up the sand, sometimes hitting Grian gently as he laid there on the sand. The turtle crawled away, and the sun shined down on the spot in the sand. With a deep sigh, Grian shut his eyes to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 100 hits?! What?!
> 
> I am over the moon and thank you all so much for the support, again. I freaked out with the bookmarks and the kudos, and to think these are my first ever posts on AO3 is just unbelievable! I can't wait ti share more of my story with you, and I really hope you continue to like it. ^^


	4. Texts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mumbo and Grian are at shore, and are finally ready to set up camp for the night. Luckily, the rest of this day is calmer than the sudden landing of earlier.
> 
> Grian still seems to have a bit of NPG in him, anyway.

Mumbo arrived back at the shore with some apples, carrots, and raw beef. He approached where Grian was last.

“Hey G, I got some- woah!”

In front of him was a small house. It had a nice design, looking a bit medieval. But, he was still a bit upset, knowing exactly who made it.

“Grian. I thought I told you to rest! Where are you?” he frowned, a serious tone in his voice as he spoke.

Grian peeked his head through the window of the house and creaked open the door, stepping out wistfully.

“I’m so sorry, sir. I just thought that...well...I had wood on me so I should put it to use. Then, I felt it was incomplete and then...well...” he looked behind him at the house.

Mumbo sighed. “It's alright, just take a break, okay? I brought some food to help your health go up.”

“Okay, would you like to come in?”

“Sure! Hey, what type of house is this? We don’t see these types of houses around here often, like,  _ at all! _ ”

“Oh, just a rustic house. I love rustic houses!”

Mumbo chuckled, glancing at the extremely detailed exterior. “I can tell.”

* * *

The two entered the house and Mumbo stopped walking.

“Woah, did you do this in 15 minutes?”

“Yeah.” Grian nodded. “I did. Why? Does it look bad?”

“No, no.” Mumbo shook his head. “It’s nice.”

The house had a nice kitchen in the top left corner with furnaces already in place. A kitchen table with 4 chairs was there too, a lantern hanging over as the light. On the top right corner of the room was a fireplace and a bookcase as well as a couch and nice, soft carpet. The bottom left of the room had Grian’s red bed and the bottom right had Mumbo’s black bed. Lamps hung over both of the heads and there were jukeboxes next to both where the nightstand should be.

“D-do you really like it?” Grian asked, aghast. He never thought that anybody liked his building.

“Yes!” Mumbo proclaimed. “This is a fantastic starter-starter base!”

“Starter-starter base? What’s that?” the builder questioned. 

The older of the two smiled. “Think of it like this. Our starter-starter bases are like tents. You’ll take them down and replace them with your starter base, or a house. You won’t take that down, but next to it will be your mega base, or your mansion. Does that metaphor make sense?”

Grian nodded silently. This whole new experience was a lot to take in. 

“Anyway, sit down G. I’ll heat up the food and you can rest here while I go mining, okay?”

Grian stayed silent but nodded thoroughly. Mumbo knew he understood. He got the coal and the food and stuck them in the furnace, waiting patiently for the food to cook.

“Mister?” Grian piped up.

“Yes, Grain?”

Grian laughed. “It’s-it’s Grian, not Grain. You-you think I’m bread?!”

Mumbo lost it. “No, no, it’s just, I messed up. You and bread have a lot in common. Both are small, for starters.”

Grian began laughing hysterically, so the two laughed for a while. 

“What were you asking before?” Mumbo spat out when he caught his breath.

“Oh, I was just wondering what you use to pay when your shops are done. You know, the economy. I’m from Tokyo and-”

“Tokyo? G, that’s awesome!”

“ええ、それは私の出身地です。. (Yeah, that's my hometown.)” Grian replied.

Mumbo smiled. “私はそれが美しい場所だと聞きました。. (I heard it's a beautiful place.)”

“Woah! You know Japanese, too?” Grian asked, startled by his friend’s sudden words.

“Yeah, I know a lot of languages, some more useful than others.” Mumbo laughed sweetly. “Anyway, we pay with diamonds. They're easy to find around here, so you’ll get some in no time.”

Grian nodded. Suddenly, he felt a buzz on his arm. He rolled up his sleeve slightly to find the communicator watch. The blue button was blinking. He pressed it naturally and read what was shown on a hologram-type screen.

**GoodTimesWithScar:** _Hey, has anybody hit diamonds yet?_

**Keralis1:** _ Nope. Anybody? _

**Ethoslab:** _ Not yet. _

**Falsesymmetry:** _ Sorry, no. _

**Docm7:** _ No luck yet. _

**GoodTimesWithScar:** _ Well, if anybody gets some, can I have a bit? I give you a secret prize in return. _

**Falsesymmetry:** _ Deal! _

**DocM77:** _ Alright, fine. _

**Xisumavoid:** _ I’ll help as well, for free though. _

Grian looked at Mumbo who was setting the food on the table. He put the cooked steak down with a bottle of water and some apples. 

“Alright, the food’s ready.” Mumbo declared.

Grian turned off this communicator and sat down in the seat nearest to him. He smiled at Mumbo, who smiled back.

“Thanks, Mister.”

“G, if I’m not formal to you, don’t be formal to me, okay? If you’ll do it, do it sometimes. Just call me Mumbo, it’s more casual that way.”

Grian nodded. “I will, Mumbo.”

“Thanks, Grian.”

The bond between the two began to tighten.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know in the summary I mentioned NPG. For those of you who don't know, NPG stands for NPC Grian, or Non-Player Character Grian. NPG is a robotic version of Grian. He is obsessed with rustic houses, and will force you to build them, hence why I mentioned him in the summary. Don't worry, he's not in the story AT ALL, so we're safe. No mistreated robotic maniac here.
> 
> I just, again, want to that the support on this story. More chapters to come, so please stick around!
> 
> (Also, if you even read these end notes, um, I have a YouTube channel. StarGazer on YouTube, when this story gets more interesting, I may upload an animation of the event, so, yeah.)
> 
> Okay, bye! <3


	5. MIINE DIIAAMONDSSS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian is now fully healed, so Mumbo has to go mining. Well, not alone. G has a way with words, I suppose.

“Alright, well, I’m going mining.” Mumbo declared when Grian was done eating.

“Wait!” Grian exclaimed, pushing his plate across the table. Mumbo grabbed it and put it on the counter. “Let me go with you!”

“No,” Mumbo shook his head, walking to the door as he spoke. “You need to rest, that was a very bad current you drowned in. It’s called a river ravine, by the way. You could’ve died if I didn’t pull you out of there. Heck, you almost did! So no, you’re not going.”

Grian rose out of his chair and grabbed Mumbo’s arm, stopping the older Hermit in his tracks. “Please, Mumbo. Just this once?”

Mumbo sighed. He stopped and turned around to face the boy. “You really are persistent, aren’t you? Fine, you can come.”

A smile spread on Grian’s face as he ran to a chest near the foot of his bed. He pulled out some iron armor and tools and threw them to Mumbo.

“How the-”

“Yeah, I  _ may  _ have done some mining as well, but I swear it was for the best!”

Mumbo laughed and put his armor on, and so did Grian. After they got some food and weapons, the two set out to go mining. Mumbo mined in the cave closest to the house while Grian mined in a ravine far away. The two were about 2 chunks separate from each other, but they could just talk using their communicator.

“What’s this mineral?” Grian asked in the ravine. He saw a grey block with red specks in it. He took a picture and sent it to Mumbo.

**MumboJumbo:** _ That’s redstone. You can use it to make machines and farms. I use it plenty! _

Grian smiled and immediately mined it. He ventured deep into the ravine, watching his step so he wouldn’t drown or burn in lava. He got to a cave-ish point of the ravine and headed in. He held a torch tightly in his hand to make sure he could see. After mining for a bit, he found a strange blue block. It was very dark, so Grian sent another message to Mumbo with a new picture.

**MumboJumbo:** _ That's Lapis. You can use that to enchant your weapons and armor when you have the materials. Bookshelves and an enchanting table,plus enough levels, anyway.  _

Grian mined it immediately. Lastly, he dug deep in the cave and next to the lava and water was a light blue block. The color shimmered and because of the light of the lava and his torch, he could see it perfectly. He didn’t even have to send Mumbo a message for this block, he just dug it up. Behind it was more and more blocks of the same mineral, so he mined it gladly and headed out of the cave ravine. Now he just had to figure out how to get out, it was a very deep spot he was in.

\--------------------------------------

Mumbo was mining some coal when his communicator went off. He pressed the button and the chat came up. He gasped at what he read.

**Grian** _ made the achievement  _ _ DIAMONDS! _

Mumbo ran over to the ravine where Grian was and searched for him. Mumbo caught him leaving the cave and jumped down.

“G!” he yelled. “Did you really hit diamonds?”

In response, Grian threw down some diamond armor and tools to Mumbo, who gladly took it and exchanged his armor and tools for them. 

“Yeah, I did! Come on, slowpoke!” Grian yelled back down. He was already pillaring to the top by the time Mumbo had exchanged his materials.

Mumbo rolled his eyes and headed up behind him. The two reached the top of the ravine and headed back to the rustic house.

“How did you find diamonds so fast? I mean, you’re the first person to get them in this whole place, and you’re new!” Mumbo exclaimed, still wondering if he really just saw that happen.

Grian giggled. “I just found them and mined them. I didn’t know I found diamonds yet!”

Mumbo nudged him in the arm jokingly. “Well, you did, and you’re lucky. We’ll be  _ way  _ ahead everybody else!”

The two of them walked back to their starter-starter base. Grian began singing tunes when they were halfway there.

“ _ Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days. _

_ When our momma sang us to sleep but now we're stressed out~ _ ”

“You seem to have a way different taste of music to me, G.” Mumbo joked. He began to sing his own song.

“ _ Now, here's a dance everyone can do, It's the hipsters' dance, and the square cats' too~” _

Grian laughed. For the brisk walk, that’s what they did. The two friends sang the first tunes that came to their head. They switched between eras, but seemed to have plenty of fun singing. Then, Grian sang a certain song that was a bit shocking to Mumbo’s ears, as he knew it too.

_ “ _ _ Here will come a soldier who carries a mighty sword. He will tear your city down, o lei o lai o- _ oh, oh. We’re here.”

The two laughed at the sudden interruption and rushed in the house. Mumbo carefully took the minerals out of G’s hands and placed them in the chest attentively. He turned to Grian who was holding even more stuff. Mumbo went back and forth from Grian to the chest until there was no more materials needed to be put away.

“Wow, only that much work done and the sun is already setting?” Mumbo asked, astonished by how fast time flew by.

“Yeah,” Grian complied. “I guess when you’re busy, you forget how much time you have in a day.”

Mumbo walked over to heat up some meat for dinner while Grian, being the 15 year old kid he was, used some wood and a pickaxe to make a wooden, unpainted action figure of a superhero he liked. He ran up to Mumbo and showed it to him.

“Look, Mumbo! I made a figurine!” Grian proudly exclaimed, holding up his newest little creation.

Mumbo was amazed. “Wow, you have a creative mind, G. Treasure that, it’ll come in handy around here. Especially when making your own bases and shops.”

Grian nodded and put away his new toy in his chest. When he got up, he saw Mumbo wasn’t in the same place he was before. Turning around, he saw the man taking the food out of the furnace and setting it down on small plates. He waved for Grian to come, to which he did. 

The rest of the night was the two messing around. They had a small food fight, which Mumbo hadn’t done since he was 17. He was 25 now. After that, Mumbo and Grian watched the stars up in the sky, laying in the sand at the beach. They twinkled and shined beautifully. The redstoner pointed out constellations and what they meant, as the new Hermit looked and listened with curiosity. Mumbo was full of knowledge.

After a while of doing other things, the two decided it was time to head to bed. The two climbed into their separate beds, reaching up to shut off the light above their heads and nestling into their blankets.

“‘Night, Mumbo.” Grian yawned, pulling the comforter above himself and fixing his pillow.

“Goodnight, Grian.” Mumbo answered with a smile. He turned around to face the wall.

After a while of staring at something in the dark, the two fell asleep.

\-------------------------

_ He ran and ran without a thought, feeling like he was bashing into things every so often. _

_ Oh...where was he now? He always got into trouble, no matter where he was. _

_ He searched around the endless void, which looked _

_ like the void he entered Hermitcraft in. But that couldn’t be right, that would be odd. Last he remembered was being with Mumbo in their house, turning off the lights and heading to sleep. _

_ He ran more and more around the strange place, maybe looking for a button that would take him home. He thought maybe something that would say YHS would take him home. Maybe something that read Tokyo.  _

_ He heard a voice echo behind him after a bit of searching. He turned around to see Taurtis running up to him. _

_ “Grian? Is-is that really you?” Taurtis spoke between tears, his headphones a bit cracked and tilted on his head, kept together with tape. _

_ “Yes! Taurtis? Why are you crying?” Grian asked, concerned for his friend. He noticed the headphones and took a step back, a bit shocked and sad. Taurtis loved his headphones, they were gifted to him by his grandfather when he was younger. _

_ “It’s been 15 years, G. Where have you been?” _

_ “Wha-who-where- it’s not been 15 years! Taurtis, what happened?” _

_ “It has been 15 years! You-we should’ve stopped being friends so long ago. I knew you were going to do this someday! You would be my best friend and then leave me for a new life, and you wouldn’t tell me! What kind of friend are you? A horrible one..” _

_ “But, Taurti-” _

_ “Goodbye, Grian. Never show your face in Tokyo again. I don’t want to see you near me after what you have just done. You broke my trust...and my heart. I’m done. Forever.” _

_ Taurtis walked off, further into the void. Grian ran after him, but couldn’t catch up. His friend, or ex-friend, was gone. This time, for good. _

_ ‘Taurtis! Wait! I’m sorry!” Grian yelled, but it was too late. He was gone. He fell to his knees and began to cry. He ruined everything. _

_ He heard a soft voice come from behind him.  _

_ “Grian! Grian are you okay!? Wake up! Please!” _

_ \----------------------- _

Grian snapped his eyes open. He looked up to see Mumbo shaking him frantically. He had a worried expression on his face, his eyes filling with tears. Most likely from the sight of G crying.

“Grian? You okay?” He asked nervously, on the verge of crying, as well.

“Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Sorry, did I wake you up?”

Mumbo sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you were crying in your sleep, is everything alright?”

Grian nodded as a response, but his expression told a different story.

“Grian?”

“I just,” G sighed, proving Mumbo’s thoughts that he wasn’t okay.. “I just miss Tokyo, that’s all.”

Mumbo understood. “Yeah...I miss Frimely too.”

Grian tilted his head to the side like an intrigued puppy, confused.

“Oh sorry, I’m from Frimely, UK. I guess I should clarify that.”

Grian looked down, avoiding eye contact. Mumbo put a hand on his shoulder, making him lift his head.

“Well, you should get some rest. We might have to do something tomorrow, if we can think of something, at least.” He smiled at the builder.

Grian nodded again, Mumbo’s hand releasing the grip on his shoulder. He got back under the blankets, holding his pillow like a stuffed animal. “Yes. Thanks for your help...goodnight.”

Mumbo lifted himself off Grian’s bed and onto his own. He grabbed his own pillow and put it under Grian’s head. In the dark Grian heard Mumbo sing, as his eyelids began to close.

" _ Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend. Somewhere along in the bitterness and I would have stayed up with you all night had I known how to save a life~" _

And Grian wasn't sure why, but those lyrics hit close to home. Maybe because in his mind, he  _ did  _ lose a friend.


	6. Don't Mine At Night (AKA The Filler Chapter)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian and Mumbo wake the next day. They are ready to go mining once again. Hopefully nothing goes wrong. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> (This chapter is a filler so the next one doesn't seem so odd. This chapter originally wasn't supposed to be here, but I added it.)

Grian woke up with a large yawn. He looked around and spotted Mumbo sitting at the table, messaging someone on his communicator. 

The boy got up and wandered over. He sat down next to the redstoner.

"Good morning, Mumbo." said the teen.

"Oh, good morning, Grian." said the older one, sending a final message and turning his communicator off.

"What were you up to?"

"Chatting with Iskall until you woke. We have to do more mining today. the amount of diamonds and minerals we have aren't enough to last a while."

G blinked a bit in surprise and leaned forward. "We have a lot!"

Mumbo chuckled, "Shop prices are a bit expensive. Everyone wants diamonds, so we need to get more."

"Ah."

With a smile, Mumbo lifted out of his chair, helping Grian out, too. They put on their armor left the house. The boat they arrived in was parked neatly on the shore. The two climbed in, Mumbo sitting in the backseat.

"How do you steer?" asked the newest Hermit.

"Here," the oldest Hermit put his hands on Grian's. "I'll help you. Move your hands left."

The boy did what he was told. The boat turned 90 degrees to the left.

"Good, now to the right."

He did it again. It turned right, but still was parked in one spot.

"Alright, move your hands in a circle. Lean forward. Eyes on the water. Point the boat where you want to go and swing."

He did it. The boat slowly went off the shore and into the water with a splash.

"Woah!"

"You're alright, Grian. Paddle..."

The two began heading forward, smoothly across the water. G leaned forward like he was instructed. His hands lost control and the two crashed into a mountain, placed on an island. The boat tipped over.

"Okay," said Mumbo through the water. "Move your arms like you did with the oars. Paddle your feet and look up. Hold your breath. You can make it. Swim!"

Grian struggled to paddle up. There was no ravine below him, but he felt like there was one. Luckily, the redstoner noticed and grabbed his hand. The two looked at each other and nodded.

The duo swam out together. The reached the surface and climbed back into the boat.

"Can you driv-"

"Yeah, um, I'll drive."

Swapping spots, the two set off to go mine.

* * *

It took the whole day to find a mine that still had good minerals left. Most were raided by other Hermits. As the sun set over a new island, the Hermits ventured onto the land.

Grian stretched as Mumbo looked around.

"Trees haven't been cut down here, nor is there anything in sight. We go into the cave, if there's no good loot, we retreat back home and try again tomorrow. Got it?"

"Yup!"

"Alright, good luck. Text me if you find anything."

"Okay!"

The two walked in together and immediately split off. After about an hour of mining, they met back up at the entrance.

"I got some good loot."

"Me too! Okay, back home?"

"Yes."

"You drive?"

"Eh. I'll give you another shot."

"Okay then..."

* * *

The door opened and they stepped into the house.

"I wanna go to bed."

"Me too, Grian. Come on."

Walking to their beds, Grian plopped down on his. He didn't even pull the covers over himself before he fell asleep.

Mumbo noticed and gently picked G up, putting him over his shoulder like a baby. He pulled the blankets up, set Grian down, and covered him. Fixing his hair from his face and tucking it behind his ears, he went back to his own bed and fell asleep. 

The day was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hallo!
> 
> StarGazer here! 400+ hits?! What?! That's insane, and I know I keep thanking you, but I have to. It feels right.
> 
> I wonder if I can add links here...  
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCS4cmv815oVHQOkBCXhMDYA  
> There, if that worked, that's my channel. ^^  
> Go and check it out!
> 
> Alright, that's it for me...so...bye! Stay safe and stay amazing!


	7. The Moving Truck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third day in the starter-starter base Grian and Mumbo call home. Well, called is a better word for it. G was fine with staying for a while, but Mumbo had other plans.

Grian woke up early in the morning to see Mumbo putting all his stuff away in his inventory from the chest at the foot of his bed. He was confused on why Mumbo was up so early. He rubbed his eyes and lifted himself up slightly, sliding to sit up on the bed. He used the headboard for support to stay upright.

“Hey, Mumbo. What’cha doin?” he asked with a yawn.

Mumbo sighed, glancing over and the tired Hermit. “I’m gonna go, G. I’m gonna sail out and get started on my  _ real  _ starter base, and possibly on my actual base. Is that okay? Me heading out and leaving you on your own? You learned enough to fend off by yourself, right?”

Grian nodded silently. He was still tired, so he didn’t quite process what was going on. His friend’s (was Mumbo his friend yet? He wasn’t so sure, his brain was foggy. He thought he was.) words went through one ear and out the other.

Mumbo walked up to Grian and took something out of his inventory. He handed it to Grian, which held it in his hands and looked at it curiously.

“Your cardigan seems to have some rips in it, and I don’t think it has a replacement here, so I made you a red sweater. It’s gonna get cold, anyway, even if it is July. Weather in this place is crazy.”

Grian smiled as he turned the sweater over and over in his hands. “Thank you, Mumbo.”

“No problem!” Mumbo grinned. He was happy to see that Grian liked it. “Well then, try it on!”

Grian put the sweater over his ripped cardigan and rolled down the sleeves. They drooped over his fingers, making it impossible to see his hands. The sleeves were a  _ little bit  _ too long.

“Oh dear,” said Mumbo with a bit of a laugh. “Sorry Grian. I didn’t sew it right. Here let me take it back and I’ll remake it so it fits right...” Mumbo said as he approached Grian with his arms out, trying to retrieve the sweater.

Grian backed up, crossing his arms. “No! I love the sweater! You can’t take it now!” He pouted like a young child. 

Mumbo smirked with a chuckle. “Well, if you like it  _ that  _ much, I guess you can keep it the way it is.”

Grian smirked and jumped up, out of the bed. “Oh thank you, Mumbo!” he proclaimed. 

Mumbo smiled and patted Grian’s back. He walked towards the door and opened it, ready to leave, before he remembered something he had to say.

He turned around once more, looking G in the eyes. “Good luck out there, kid.”

Then the door shut tightly.

* * *

Grian had finally gotten himself together after Mumbo left. He changed out of his cardigan and into the sweater. He fidgeted with the sleeves until they hung over his entire arms like curtains, but Grian liked them like that. He felt that they gave him...personality. He began tearing down the house, block by block, until it looked just like it was before he had built it, grass and dirt. He took his materials, crafted his own boat, and sailed out to the ocean. 

On his way, he checked his inventory. To his surprise, he found a map. 

_ Huh. _ he thought.  _ I don’t remember having a map before. _

He opened it up to see each place on it labeled. There were many places, but one place that caught his attention was the Futuristic District. Intrigued, Grian rowed his boat to the outskirts of that area and looked around. He was so near the SD, or Shopping District, that Mumbo had told him all about. He decided that this is where he wanted to settle. Plus, staying here would let him figure out more about life in Hermitcraft. He would be right next to the busiest place, after all.

G grabbed all his materials and swam down once he officially found where he wanted to settle. The land looked good in the water, so he grabbed some glass and some wood and made a shipwreck in a bottle. He swam down through the bottle cap and entered. He inside had a big, spruce shipwreck and around it were chests and a bit of terraformed nature. Grian liked that it was in the water because he could see a place he liked most. He saw the sea creatures swim by his starter base and he loved them with all his heart. It was very cool to watch when he was bored.

Inside the actual ship, he had a crafting table, a furnace, and a bed. He really liked the look of it, but he felt it needed something else.

“Here we go!” he proudly exclaimed when he added a crow’s nest to the top of his house. After looking at it again, he knew that this is what he needed.

* * *

It was 9:00 and G was tired. He was building all day and his arms and legs ached. He limply walked over to his bed and laid down, letting himself stretch all along the bed. He didn’t even bother putting the covers on. There was nobody to cover him up, anyway.

* * *

3 Months Later

* * *

Grian flew out of his base and turned around. It was looking amazing! Grian had moved out of his starter base in the ocean in July, 3 months ago, and now lived in his giant, futuristic blender he called home. 

He could see the SD through the opening in his base and could spot Mumbo’s giant hamster ball next door. Grian and Mumbo were neighbors, which was a huge relief to G. His closest friend (now he knew Mumbo  _ was  _ his friend, but not his best one! Nobody could replace Taurtis.) helped him when he didn’t know how something worked, which was great. But Grian did more on that server then build and hang out with Mumbo.

For example, he owned a sea pickle shop and a traveling market! He also made plenty of songs, such as  _ Mumbo Jumbo, You are AFK  _ and  _ Pickles on the Seafloor _ . He also created an alliance called the Architects with Mumbo. He took Mumbo’s prized moustache away, got rich and pranked a LOT, which meant getting pranked back. He also owned a set of fake wings called an elytra, which were harder to use then his actual wings, but they were fine. G got a skeleton horse named Jack Skelebone, killed it, replaced it, and made an infinity room he used for meetings with Mumbo. One of the best things was that he made himself a super-made a superhero friend named Poultry Man! Not only that, but he went golfing at CCC with Iskall, Mumbo’s friend, made a head hunt, and so much more! 

Grian wasn’t overwhelmed at all. But it was still his first 3 months, so we knew that things would get crazy at some point.

Grian felt a buzz on his arm. Opening his communicator, he saw a sea of messages.

**ZombieCleo:** _ I got him. _

**joehillsTSD:** _ Got who? _

**ZombieCleo:** _ Mumbo. He was attacked by phantoms while AFK, almost died. _

**Stressmonster101:** _ OMG is he okay? _

**ZombieCleo:** _ Yeah, I got him out of there. Lost some tools though. Saw his trident fall into the abyss of the ocean. It’s probably gone or has been taken by a drowned, etc. _

**impulseSV:** _ Oh no! _

**Tangotek:** _ That’s awful! _

**Docm77:** _ Poor Mumbo, man. Wish I could contribute, but I won’t. _

**GoodTimesWithScar:** _ Shut up, Doc. _

Grian sighed and typed in his own message.

**Grian:** _I’m gonna donate one to him, don’t worry guys._

**ZombieCleo:** _ K, sweet! I’m gonna wake him up and protect him until he heals. _

Grian shut off his communicator and sighed.

_ I hope he’s okay. _ Grian thought before putting on his elytra and taking off into the fresh air.

* * *

“Hey Mumbo, it’s Cleo.” Cleo called out as she waved a hand in front of the redstoner’s face, catching his attention.

“Ugh...Cleo? What are you doing here?” Mumbo asked drowsily. He was barely waking up from his AFK state.

“You were attacked by phantoms when you were AFK. You lost your trident.” The zombie sighed. “You need to be more careful next time, Mumbo. I know you love to AFK, but you almost died!”

Mumbo chuckled. “I know, I know. I’ll be more safe next time I AFK, but thanks for saving me.”

ZombieCleo smiled and took off, leaving Mumbo in the center of his huge storage system. 

“Cya, Jumbo!” she called as she left his base.

“Bye, Cleo!” Mumbo waved goodbye. He opened his communicator.

**MumboJumbo:** _ Just woke up, I heard my trident’s gone. That can’t be replaced. Gonna safe proof my AFK spot before I return. Really upset, though. It was a good trident. My only riptide. _

**xisumavoid:** _ Yeah, sorry about that, Mumbo. Hope you get one soon.  _ :)

**MumboJumbo:** _ Yeah, I hope so. Thanks, X. _

**xisumavoid:** _ No problem! _

* * *

Surprisingly, Grian felt bad. He almost never felt bad, he always wanted to prank instead. But this time he wanted to help, probably because it was his friend.

**Grian:** _ Hey Mumbo, what did you have on your trident? _

**MumboJumbo:** _ Oh, it was just a riptide trident.  _

**Grian:** _ Oh, I’m sorry. That seemed like a good one. _

**MumboJumbo:** _ Yeah, it was. Why’d you ask? _

**Grian:** _ Oh, I just wanted to know. Maybe I would find it and take it, I would just need to know if it was valuable or not. :P _

**MumboJumbo:** _ Well, you better not, G. Haha _

**Grian:** _ Haha _

**Grian:** _ You know I would tho _

Grian turned off his communicator after typing as a smirk spread across his face. He flew to a shulker box on the second floor and opened it. Inside were spare tridents, and he just so happened to have a riptide one. He renamed the trident, added extra enchantments, and put it in his inventory. 

He smiled. “Oh, this will be good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. So this chapter is being posted before I have to go back to school, so...this is a fast end note. 
> 
> 1\. I know Scar tells Doc to shut up and Doc comes off a bit rude. I have no hate on Doc, I love his content, but in this story he's the rudest and most agressive Hermit. Especially to Grian. Just to let you know.
> 
> 2\. You all are amazing. I am overwhelmed by the support, and it's fantastic to know people read this nonsense I write. The story is a bit slow right now, but things will speed up. 
> 
> 3\. Next chapter will recount an actual Hermitcraft episode. It's going to be a recap, basically. If you don't want to read the full-on transcript, I'll have a link to the video in the summary. But it would still be great if you would read it because it took me a while to get the phrases and events right.
> 
> 4\. Enough about next chapter! We're reaching chapter 10 soon, and we're close to 700 hits! Thank you all so much. Have a great day!
> 
> (And extra thanks if you checked out my channel okay I'm done now bye)


	8. Friendship is the Key to Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian had a plan. A plan to give Mumbo something he really wanted back. But, if course, nothing comes for free, does it? No, everything has a price.

Grian had been putting it off for an hour, but he was ready to do it. Mumbo returned to his AFK state and Grian had been exploring the Shopping District for stuff. Sure, he ended up losing his tools for a while, but he got them back in the end. As he arrived back at his base, he noticed the riptide trident in his inventory. He remembered his previous plan and decided to put it into action.

“So, Mumbo lost all of his gear because he was attacked by phantoms while AFK...seems like Architects and AFK is not a good idea.” he smiled because he knew it was true. 

“I think he’s pretty bummed out because he lost something he couldn’t replace, and that was a trident...but not just any trident, but a  _ riptide _ trident.” he checked his inventory quickly, flying higher when he thought he would fall.

He hovered in the air as he took out the trident, making sure it was the right one. “I named it _The Fork of Friendship_. Luckily I have the correct one.”

G landed on Mumbo’s AFK box. Mumbo’s eyes were shut while he was in his sleep-like state, so Grian knew he was safe to do what he wanted to do. He walked around the top of the hovering box and noticed something.

“He added another layer to his box!”

Grian mined a corner of this same box. He looked at the AFK Mumbo below him. 

“Mumbo,” he chuckled. “If you’re gonna go AFK you know to forget it and just stay active, or this will happen.”

He sighed, smiling a bit as he did so. After getting off track and stealing some gunpowder (he did that a  _ lot _ ), G went back up to finish his work. 

* * *

He had built a cobblestone box around Mumbo’s original box and trapped himself in it as well.

“Okay Mumbo,” he spoke to the AFK hermit, even if he wasn’t listening. That sort of calmed him, knowing that even if he fell Mumbo wouldn’t notice.

“I’ve trapped myself in here with you and I’m gonna leave  _ The Fork of Friendship  _ right there.” He placed the trident in a chest a couple of blocks away from Mumbo, who still was AFK.

“I kinda want to leave a sign for you- wait, no, I don’t need to leave a sign.” he smirked. “I’ll just leave a Grian head there.” 

He placed a Grian head on top of the chest and paused, looking at it. He looked at the clay version of his head in the eyes and began to grin.

“Wait, maybe I should make it  _ very  _ clear who left this.” he spoke between his laughter as he placed his own head all along the walls. He stepped back a bit, bumping into the glass when he was done. G was thankful  _ that  _ didn’t wake him up.

“There we go! Now, I think that makes it  _ very _ clear who left this in here.” 

Grian broke the block above his head and flew out, perching on the roof as he looked down at one of his greatest creations, one of his greatest pranks. 

“I really hope that Mumbo goes AFK here for longer.” he smirked evilly as he patched up the hole he made in the roof.

Taking off, he told himself about how nice it was of a good deed he had done, but deep down, he wanted to do something more evil. More absurd. More crazy. More...fun. 

And he knew just how to do it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new chapter is finally out!!
> 
> I am so, SO sorry for not updating in a while, I didn't get the chance to write and fix this chapter up so it came in way later than I wanted it to.
> 
> Welp, here it is! Next chapter is a recap as well, but things will get more interesting soon. :D
> 
> Things will spice up soon, I promise. Anyway, how is everyone? Just passed 1,000 hits here! Like, what?
> 
> I can't even--
> 
> Thanks so much for the support! 70 kudos and over 1,000 hits is just surreal! I swear, I'll get more stuff out for you wonderful people very, very soon.
> 
> ...in fact, the same day this has posted, another chapter will post as well! Well, bye!


	9. Getting Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian recruits Iskall to help him with his prank. Luckily, he is always available.

Grian smiled wide. His base was coming together. He headed inside to his house and ran around. It was so cool! His base looked like a futuristic blender, sure, but he thought it looked amazing. Grian headed to the bottom layer of his base and walked to the center of this giant room.

“Hello, Codswallop!” he said in a cheerful tone to the cod swimming around in his aquarium. He gave it a cheerful wave and continued walking to his forever growing chest monster he had next to his nether portal.

“Oi, I need to clean this up before it leaks into the ocean.” he chuckled as he grabbed some materials out of his mess of shulker boxes. He got what he needed, but looked for extra anyways.

G flew up to his second floor and sat down against the concrete wall. He laid there for a while, shutting his eyes for a bit as he daydreamed. 

He dreamed that he was with Taurtis running through Tokyo. He dreamed of going to school and seeing Sam run around, bunny ears full of blood, and sparing his 2  _ friends _ , always, without a doubt. He dreamed of heading back to Sam's basement and eating sushi with Taurtis for lunch. 

Goodness, he missed Tokyo, but at the same time, he kinda was happy he found a little home. He got away from the murder and mystery for once.

Grian opened his eyes after a while and looked around. He was glad nobody mistaked him for being AFK because then something would happen to  _ him _ . He got back in the moment and remembered what he had done to Mumbo, it being similar to the thought of being pranked while AFK.

_ Boy, he can’t get that for free. I better get some assistance. _ He thought as he got up off the ground. He thought of a devious plan and pulled out his communicator. He was so, so excited, but before he could start, he needed to talk to someone.

* * *

**Grian:** _ yo iskall, come meet me at my base bro and bring the obisidan i asked _

**iskall85:** _ ok _

**iskall85:** _ omw _

Grian sat down in his base and relaxed for a second watching his cod swim around in his glassless aquarium. He felt a buzz on his arm and looked at the messages.

**iskall85:** _ im here… is this a trap? _

**cubfan135:** _ RUN _

**TangoTek:** _ eh? _

Grian got a little nervous, but he doubted it was directed towards him, so he got up and looked up, towards a window. He knew that Iskall was at his base because of his message, so Grian flew outside and waited for his friend to show up.

After about an hour of watching the ocean, the swede appeared in the air wearing his elytra.

“Oh there he is, hey Iskall!” Grian waved.

Iskall smiled, dropping down to his level. “Yo, man!” 

“What’s going on? Why did they say 'RUN'?” 

“I...I don't know. I hope they didn't mean anything about you because I'm already scared...is this a trap?”

Grian shook his head, “No way, dude!”

Even though he was smiling, he was a bit concerned. Cub, who was who told Iskall to run, was in the Convex, and he was scary sometimes. The  _ Convex  _ was scary sometimes. Mumbo had told G about all of his encounters with them, such as his boat crashing and him being submerged into slime, or the time recently when the Convex made him a  _ Moustache Hall of Fame _ to somewhat warn him.

“You asked me to bring obsidian, right?”

“Yeah?”

“Last time I was here I remember falling into a pit and...yeah. That’s not gonna happen again, right?” Iskall chuckled nervously.

“Oh, I remember that!” G laughed. Memories of his revenge from the hit on him by IJevin filled his mind. He could still hear Iskall’s terrified scream echoing through his ears when he thought of it.

“Anyway, this isn’t for you, this is for our mustached friend, okay?” Grian grinned evilly.

“Oh, okay! Yes!” Iskall smiled. He too had a cheeky grin once he was told what they were gonna do.

“So,” Grian continued. “Come with me, please. Listen, what he’s done happens  _ so  _ rarely in this universe that we  _ have  _ to do something. I don’t feel bad about what we’re going to do because I gave him a free trident, and as everybody knows there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right?”

Iskall shook his head. “No, no. Of course not.”

“So, this is the thing that makes it okay.”

“Right, so over here we have our flying Mumbo Jumbolio.” Grian landed on the cobblestone box floating in the sky he had made yesterday.

Iskall followed behind laughing. “Oh my goodness.Is he AFK?”

“Yeah! Dude, what he did is he took off all of his gear and put it in that chest underneath his feet, so he is unprotected from  _ anything _ .”

Iskall laughed. He looked at Grian, who smirked. Mischief was about to rise.

“So, Master Grian asked me to bring obsidian. I can connect the dots now.”

“Do you and I know what we’re gonna do?” he laughed menacingly. 

“Yes.”

“I have to put my good face on.” Iskall joked, putting on a Grian head he had collected from the  _ Grian Head Hunt _ and showing the smaller hermit.

“Well,” Grian smiled. "I don’t need to put  _ my  _ one because this is my face! However, what I’ve got here is a curse of binding Grian head, and we’re gonna-”

“Oh!” Iskall gasped, realizing the  _ real _ plan.

“We’re gonna dispense this on his head.” 

“Okay!”

“There’s so many layers to this. But does this make sense?”

“Mhm, mhm.”

"In there, with him, is  _ The Fork of Friendship _ , okay?” 

“Yes.”

“He’ll try and get the trident, find out that he has a head on him, and then try and escape the box.”

Iskall and Grian laughed for a second looking at the poor hermit beneath them. Both men didn’t feel a bit of guilt.

“What do we need the obsidian for, then?” asked Iskall.

“We’ll trap him in obsidian.”

“Wait...on top of the cobblestone?”

“Yup.”

Iskall smiled through his Grian mask. "This is gonna be good."

So the two got to work. Grian began pulling out stacks and stacks of obsidian while Iskall began demolishing and reconstructing the cobblestone box bigger than it was before. While Iskall was building up behind Mumbo, a question rose. The answer could either help or not.

"Wait," Iskall stopped. "Does he have his elytra on?"

G looked at him and sighed. “Yeah, he does. That’ll ruin things.”

Iskall asked, "Why would he do that though?" 

He got no reply.

After arguing for a bit and looking in Mumbo's supply chests, the two decided to keep going with their plans. They found some ways to work around it, so they were ready to continue. The two planned out where things should go, and soon they were off to work.

"I'm gonna make this obsidian box bigger than the cobblestone box-" Grian announced.

"-So he gets a sense of achievement?" Iskall interrupted laughing. "From falling down a block when he breaks the cobblestone? Oh man.."

Iskall and Grian were hard at work, determined to make this prank complete.

"Did you bring the materials that I asked you to bring? Some pink dye?"

"I have 2 stacks of pink dye and some obsidian left."

"Cool. Thanks, Iskall!" Grian smiled as he scooped the materials out of Iskall's hands.

"You're very welcome, G." Iskall responded.

The two worked for a bit longer. Grian hastily crafted up a dispenser and broke a glass block of Mumbo's AFK box, thankful he did not wake. He placed the dispenser near the tall man's head. 

"I'll wait for you, but I'm gonna dispense this." Grian remarked as he put the Grian head in the machine. "The head is called  _ Together Forever _ ."

Grian began laughing, and so did Iskall. 

"What is wrong with you, bro?" Iskall exclaimed, eyes filling with tears from the laughter.

"I don't know!" Grian laughed as well.

“What happened to you?! What is wrong with you?!”

"Many, many things." Grian replied, which sent Iskall into tears, so much that he couldn't breathe.

"I just, I feel like I can be good or evil, I have to be chaotic neutral. I gave him a trident and I helped him with the creeper farm. I feel like the balance of nature has tossed us through. I have to restore the balance.”

Iskall smiled. Grian flew on top of the cobblestone box and crouched down next to the button on the dispenser. 

“You wanna see this curse of binding head go on him?” Grian asked.

“I want to. I do.” Iskall smiled. He landed next to Grian.

“Dude, you’re not getting married to the head.”

“I know, dude. It looks like you anyway.”

“Yeah, if you were to marry the head just marry me.”

“Well, you’re a minor, a clay head has no age.”

“True. Do you want to see it, though?”

“Yes, of course!”

“Okay, so, there’s  _ Together Forever  _ in there.” Grian opened the dispenser. “Ready?” 

Iskall nodded, and the head went flying on. Immediately, the two began cracking up. They laughed hard at poor Mumbo.

“Gottem!”

“Why is messing with Mumbo so much fun?”

“Because he always has no clue!”

After calming down, the two finished the exterior of the box. He looked in the redstoner’s sorting system and found an unenchanted pickaxe. He flew back to Iskall and held the handle.

“I’m gonna name this to  _ Salvation _ .” Grian laughed as he engraved the name in the leather handle.

“ _ Salvation _ !” Iskall chuckled slightly. “Where are you gonna put it? He’s not getting it for free, I hope.”

“No, what we're gonna do is we’re gonna put  _ this  _ pickaxe in a chest surrounded by obsidian.”

“So he goes for that first!” the friend replied.

“So, actually, we’re gonna put a sign saying...um...well. I don’t know yet. But he will try and escape, and the only way to get out is by getting the pick.”

Iskall nodded. “Yes, yes. Makes sense.”

“You know what? I have the sign.”

“Can I hear it?”

“‘Salvation Lies Inside’”

“Ooh.” 

The two agreed that it was a good plan, so it was being wrapped up. Iskall grabbed some enchanted iron pants and put them in the dispenser. He showed Grian what he had done.

“Iskallity trousers.”

“Beautiful.”

The two joked for a bit but soon finished up. Iskall added a  _ Iskallity Chestplate  _ in the chest. Grian added some rotten flesh and some cod, while Iskall added some golden carrots.

* * *

“Pleasure doing business with you, sir.” Grian smiled, shaking his friend’s hand when they were complete.

“It was a pleasure as well.” Iskall smirked while returning the shake. “Quite the pleasure.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had to repost a bunch of chapters since this one, for some reason, got deleted. Sorry about that!


	10. Reaction Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mumbo is awake now, and he didn't know what he expected.

Mumbo opened his eyes to a dark room. He yawned and looked around. The faint look of some heads and a chest were lining the walls, so he was  _ very _ confused. 

Mumbo saw he was surrounded by cobblestone and that worried him. Trying to rub his eyes, he reached for his face but felt something that was..off. He reached for a tag in the corner of the mask and was able to read it in the dark, through the eyes of the mask.

“I have a Grian head on!” he laughed. 

He checked for his elytra and was relieved when it was there. He scanned himself for anything else that may be different and felt solid trousers rather than his normal fabric ones.

“I appear to be wearing some  _ Iskallity Trousers _ ..’ Mumbo laughed. “And all of this seems to be a curse of binding so I can’t take any of this off.”

Mumbo checked the chest below him and saw the food he had gotten. One cod left in the chest caught his attention, which simply read, “ _ This is the price of a free trident. _ ”

Breaking the glass and walking forward, Mumbo reached for the chest now in front of him. He opened it to find a trident that looked similar to his old one. He held it in his hands and looked at it happily.

“Oh,” He smiled. “No way!” 

His eyes filled with tears as he turned it over in his hand. 

“They got my- I got a riptide trident back.”

“Oh my word, that’s actually made me so happy!” he slightly giggled with relief because he  _ really  _ didn’t want to go out finding one again.

“Well, I’m assuming this was Grian, or that could be Iskall, even. I need to thank them, that made me so happy!” 

“Oh, cheers guys.! It’s friends like these that make me happy I left Frimely to come here.”

Mumbo smiled and walked forward to some cobblestone. He began digging down and fell into a weird purple pit. 

_ Dang it.  _ The redstoner thought.  _ Obsidian!? _

Mumbo began punching the obsidian beneath his feet. 

“Is this some kind of joke?!” he chuckled nervously. “I have to punch  _ obsidian _ ?! How long is this going to take? I take back the things I said about friends like these.”

Of course, he didn’t mean it, he loved Grian and Iskall, but he was a bit mad.

Mumbo soon fell out the bottom and took off towards the skies. The sun was beginning to set when he escaped the cage, so he opened his communicator and typed a message as he landed.

**MumboJumbo:** _ Very funny, Grian. Get me out of this thing. _

**Grian:** _ k, omw _

Mumbo sat down on a grassy plain that he had made in his base as he waited for his friend to come.

_ Sneaky guy.. _ he thought.  _ Love him, though. Always will, no matter what.  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remade because of formatting issues.
> 
> Did you realize that Mumbo put Grian before Iskall in one phrase? Shows the friendship, huh? :D


	11. Feeling Tired

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian needs to help Mumbo with the prank. Afterwards, he is tired. But he regrets falling asleep that night. Completely a regret.

“Hey, I’m here!” Grian called out to Mumbo.

“Okay then, where are you?” Mumbo asked, turning around. He couldn’t see his friend anywhere at all. 

“Right here!” Grian said as his invisibility potion faded off and he appeared in front of the redstoner, holding a bucket of milk.

“Goodness!” Mumbo gasped, alarmed by G’s sudden entrance. “You scared me!”

“I can tell. Right, so you need me to help you take off the curse of binding stuff, right?” Grian cocked his head to the side like a playful puppy.

Mumbo nodded. “All of it. Iskallity and everything.”

“Alright then.” Grian smiled as he stepped closer to his friend. They were about five inches away from each other’s faces.

“Look up so I can take this mask off.”

Mumbo lifted his head slowly. Grian made himself higher as he inserted a code to a silver touchpad in the bottom of the Grian head. It slipped it off perfectly, Grian now holding it securely under his arm.

Mumbo respired and looked around. “Thanks, G. Now get these iron leggings off me!”

Grian smiled and went to the belt buckle. He inserted another code and the leggings fell down. Grian put the mask and leggings back in his inventory, storing them neatly.

“Did you like the gift?” Grian smirked.

“The trident part? Yes. The prank part?  _ Not  _ so much.” Mumbo replied.

G laughed. “Well, you win some you lose some.”

Mumbo smiled, patting him on the back. “Thanks for your help, Poultry Man.”

Grian jokingly looked offended and took off behind Mumbo.

“It wasn’t me! It was the man in the chicken costume!” He called out as he left.

Mumbo waved goodbye headed to the top of his sphere. He had a weird feeling in him, one he doubted was true, but that didn’t stop it from being there. He felt something was going to go wrong soon, he just didn’t know where. Nor when. Nor, to who...and that’s what worried him the most.

* * *

G headed down to his starter base. He always felt comfortable sleeping there, and he was tired anyways. The sound of the ocean and the sight of the fish helped calm him before he slept, so his ship in a bottle was a great place to rest when he  _ really  _ needed it. 

The builder headed to his bed in the center of the ship and laid down. He grabbed the comforter and pulled it over him. He shut his eyes and fell asleep fairly quickly, which wasn’t in his favor.

* * *

_ Grian stood in his dream lobby, an empty black space with endless opportunities. Grian squinted his eyes and tried to make Tokyo appear all around him, but when he opened his eyes he was still in the same place. Walking forward, he felt the opposite happen. Grian tried to fight against the force, but he couldn’t do anything. He wasn’t in control of his own dream anymore, but most importantly, he wasn’t in control of himself. _

_ “Hello, my gem.” said a voice echoing behind Grian. _

_ He snapped around to face someone he’d never seen before. They looked tall, maybe 6’8, so she towered over Grian, the 5’6 hermit. _

_ “Oh,” the figure scoffed. ”It’s Grian, isn’t it?” _

_ Grian nodded but backed away, though the force, most likely from her, kept him going forward. He looked like he was moonwalking.  _

_ “Well hello, Grian. My precious gem. My my, how you’ve grown. But how am I not surprised? Everyone grows out of their dark, dull fase.” _

_ “Who are you?” Grian asked. “How did you enter my dream?” _

_ The figure smirked in the dark lighting. “You really don’t know who I am?” _

_ Grian shook his head. “Not a clue.” _

_ The figure approached him, sending a shiver down his spine as they stood tall and ominous. He couldn’t see the speaker, so the interaction was even more chilling. _

_ “You know who I am, do you? Well, I wanted to deliver this message to you myself. You don’t have much time.” _

_ A dark hand reached for Grian’s shoulder.  _

_ “What do you mean, ‘don’t have much time?’” he asked anxiously. _

_“_ ** _You, don’t have much time here left. I’ll return soon, my ruby, but expect nothing less._** _” The voice echoed harshly, which gave G goosebumps._

_ “Return? Soon? Who even are you?” Grian yelled, scared out of his mind. _

_ “You know me, my gem, and you always will. It will only take some time for you to remember, that’s all.” _

_ The figure waved her hand, a flame in her palm. Grian’s wings appeared out of his back without his control.  _

_ “We are family, and that is how it’ll always be.” _

_ Grian became confused and frustrated.  _

_ “WHO ARE YOU?!” Grian hollered. “TELL ME!!” _

_ “You’ll find out soon enough, my Ruby, and you’ll never go back.” _

_ “BUT WHO ARE Y-” _

* * *

Grian woke with a gasp. He looked around the room frantically. Putting his hand on his heart center, his heart was beating way too fast.

_ This isn’t good.  _ He thought.  _ This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good. _

He rubbed his eyes and got up. He ran his hands through his hair to comb it somewhat. G had a million questions, but he decided to keep them and find a way to calm himself. Instead of coping, Grian was reminded of something during his dream, his wings. He hadn’t opened his wings for 3 months. 

_ I guess they must be cramped, huh?  _ He asked himself in his mind.

Slowly, Grian crossed his arms and took off his sweater. Checking to make sure he was alone, Grian took off his shirt from underneath and stretched his wings. 

They hurt from the months without use, so he was relieved when they were let free. Without knowing, his wings began lifting him off the ground. The moment he noticed he was floating was when his head bumped on the ceiling, causing him to crash back down to the floor.

“The heck?” he groaned as he sat up. 

Lifting himself up slowly, he sighed.

“It’s been 3 months too long. I bet they’re looking for me everywhere in Tokyo.”

Grian exhaled as he hid his wings once again. He put back on his shirt and sweater and looked around. 

Swimming out the cap of his bottle, G went back to the surface and climbed back on to the round platform he had surrounding his mega base. As he entered, he grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a message on it:

“ _ Hey Mumbo! How are you? Yesterday was SO much fun and we should do that again sometime. XD Anyway, wanna meet up tomorrow for the Architechs? Maybe discuss some things we can do? Whatever works for you, I’m available. _

_ Your friend, GrianMC” _

Grian sent off the paper to Mumbo through their mail system. He waved bye to the message as it rushed through the tubes. It didn’t take long for him to get a reply.

“ _ Hello Grian. I am doing very well, thank you for asking. Yesterday was indeed hilarious, but please don’t make me punch obsidian again. Also, I’ll try to make it tomorrow. Just send me a message using the communicator and I’ll see if I’m available. Thanks for your understanding. _

_ Your local spoon, Mumbo Jumbo” _

Grian read the paper fairly quickly and put it away in a chest with all the other messages he had gotten. Grian smiled as he flew up to the top of his base. 

The sun was beginning to rise, so he sat down and watched the beautiful sky. The parrots flew by the sun and created a remarkable scene Grian would never want to miss.

_ Taurtis would love this.  _ G thought.  _ If only... _

Soon, the sun rose up completely and the day had begun. Grian got up and took off towards the Shopping District right in front of him.

_ Time to complete my daily rounds.  _ He thought as he landed on the grass and began to walk to collect the profits from his stores. 

He knew that dream he had had prior to this moment was going to be important at some point, but he didn’t know when...and to be honest, he wasn’t sure if he was ready for how soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, reformatted.
> 
> This chapter...ooo things are getting s p i c y.
> 
> Guess who the dream person is? Don't say it in the comments, they'll be revealed soon. :D


	12. Matrix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Grian calls his closest friend (in Hermitcraft, nobody could ever replace Taurtis) to the infinity room.
> 
> Again, if only he didn't go in.
> 
> Because...well...now he's considered late, huh?
> 
> [SERIOUS CHAPTER!! VERY IMPORTANT TO THE PLOT!!]

He finished his rounds and bought rockets at some shops. He restocked his own shop and grabbed his profits. 

It was a daily routine for him, a routine he never thought he’d have to do if you had asked him years ago, but there he was now. 

Grian was now used to the survival life instead of the civil life, but everyday seemed the same. He would be able to have the freedom he wouldn’t have in Tokyo, but now he missed the ground rules. He missed how everything was already set up, made and finished when he got there. Here, everything started from scratch. Nevertheless, Grian loved his life, no matter where it was. 

“That looks like enough for today.” G smiled as he packed up his diamonds.

* * *

Landing in his base after a few short minutes, he opened random chests hoping to find some food to eat, considering he was very hungry. As he viewed his items, Grian came across Mumbo’s letter that he had received yesterday.

“I should head to the infinity room and call him over, shouldn’t I?” He asked himself as he put the note away. 

Heading down to the corner of his main, colossal room, he fell through a hole in the floor and appeared in his infinity room.

He walked around his own illusion and looked, dumbfounded. He had been in there a million times, but the room never failed to surprise him.

He sat on the chair he had built for himself during meetings. This time however, when he sat on the chair it disappeared, causing the other to disappear, too, and leaving an empty room of nothingness.

“ _ Oh, Ruby, you’re here. _ ”

Grian snapped his head behind him. He gasped at the figure towering over him, his heart rate increasing exponentially.

She had white hair and her skin looked as if it was faded. Her eyes were a bright orange, which was not natural at all. She wore a long, red, flowy dress and a gown or cloak. She wore black heels and wore a golden crown tilted to the side on her head.

As Grian examined her appearance, he saw red and black dragon wings sticking out of her back. They were the same ones that he had, only bigger in size.

“You!” Grian yelled, backing away slowly. “It’s you! How did you get here!?”

“ _ I can do many, many things, my jewel. Most you couldn’t even imagine. I am here from yesterday night, do you remember _ ?”

Grian nodded. He decided to keep a tough attitude to try and stand up to her, but that was a difficult task considering she seemed to actually be a magical being.

“I do remember. I also remember you saying I’d know you, but I don’t, so remind me who you are?” he smirked, though his eyes looked scared.

“ _We_ _are a family. I am your queen. Queen Tiamat of the Dragisins_.”

Grian stepped back, recognizing the name distinctly. “You?!”

Tiamat nodded. She hovered over to Grian and put a finger under Grian’s chin, lifting his head up to face her. Their eyes locked.

“ _ Show me your wings, my ruby. You are safe here. _ ” she told him.

Her eyes twinkled but Grian knew it was all a hoax to lower his guard. Alas, he obliged, not wishing to be hurt. His wings tore through his clothes and he winced, head still high, though his eyes were shut, refusing to look at her.

“ _ Very well,  _ _ Xelqua _ .” said the queen as she turned her back on G, floating away with her wings.

“My-my name’s not Xelqua, it-it’s Grian. And, these wings aren’t me, so why do you need me, ma’am? This...Xelqua you speak of does not exist...” Grian stated. His heart began to beat fast at the mention of that name he so clearly heard her say.

“ _ Oh, truly? Change then _ .” she said, looking over her shoulder at him with a spiteful glare.

“What?” Grian asked.

“ _ Change then _ .” she repeated. “ _ Nobody is here, so change. Step forwards _ .” 

Grian did what he was told and approached his ‘queen’. Tiamat turned around, landing on the floor gracefully and looking at him dead in the eyes.

“ _ You know who you are, X, and nothing can change that _ .”

Grian sighed. 

“What do you want from me?” he mumbled nervously.

“ _ To show me who you really are, or, were. You obey me, and you have no say in this. Listen or you’ll be forced to, and nobody likes my force _ .  _ Show me who you really are, not this ‘Grian’ character. You know you are lying to yourself. More importantly, you are lying to me. _ ” She said, her voice echoing, which made her more sinister.

Grian nodded. He shut his eyes as some grey smoke began swirling around him. 

Just then, someone dropped behind the two. Grian began changing quickly, the transformation only taking a few seconds.

“Hey Grian, sorry I’m late. So, what’s u--woah.” 

Mumbo looked at him in shock, not knowing what was going on.

Grian was changing into a green pointed hat. His red sweater disappeared and was replaced with a long green shirt and a silver strap across his chest, most likely to store weapons, or to be kinder, badges. The bottom of his shirt had a black belt and he wore brown boots. 

Needless to say, Mumbo was concerned.

Grian whipped his head around, a petrified expression in his eyes. He stepped towards Tiamat for some sort of protection that she didn’t give.

“Grian? Is-is that you?” Mumbo asked, jarred.

“No! It-it’s not what it looks like! This-this isn’t Grian!” G stuttered. He had a mess of words.

“Grian, what’s wrong? Is this really you?”

“No!”

“...Grian-”

“ _ Ruby _ .” Tiamat interrupted. “ _ Get your ‘friend’ out of here, or there’ll be major consequences _ .  _ You I will not hesitate to hurt, or kill, them. _ ”

Mumbo stepped towards them, fearless. “I’m not leaving unless you two tell me what’s going on.” 

He looked concerned but also intrigued. 

“Leave me here...Mumbo, no--”

“ _ If you won’t leave, then my gem will _ .” Tiamat grinned with sharp, pointed teeth. 

She grabbed Grian’s shoulders, letting Grian look at Mumbo with dismay and agony. In a puff of smoke, they were gone. 

Mumbo ran towards the place where he saw them go. He moved his hands swiftly across the ground hoping for a sense of movement or...something! All he got was emptiness, both in the room and inside. However, he  _ did  _ get something small.

In his hands appeared a small piece of paper. It disappeared after a few seconds, but he was able to read the message.

_ “ ~~Mumbo? How could you? Why did you do this to me?~~ _

_ Grian is dead. _

_ Have fun!” _

He got up slowly and covered his face with his hands, breathing shallowly.

“I need help getting him back, but where could he go?” Mumbo asked. 

He pulled out his communicator.

**MumboJumbo:** _ help _

**iskall85:** _ With what, bro? _

**xisumavoid:** _ What’s wrong, Mumbo? _

**MumboJumbo:** _ grian hes gone help I don’t know what to do help please help help help _

**xisumavoid:** _ coords? _

**MumboJumbo:** _ 458 43 -941 and head forward 1 step please come quick he is dead help _

**xisumavoid:** _ I’m heading over, hang tight. Keep hope. _

**iskall85:** _ Going, brt _

Mumbo shut off his communicator and sat down on the white void floor. He had a feeling in him, one that was true to him.

_ It’s all my fault, isn’t it?  _ he thought as waterfalls of tears ran down his cheeks. 

But as much as he wanted to do in that situation, all he  _ could  _ do is wait. Wait for the others until they got there. He guessed this is what the universe warned him of, but he did nothing. He could  _ never  _ do anything. And that’s what bugged him the most.

* * *

“ _ We’re here, Ruby _ .” smiled Tiamat as they arrived. She looked down to a frowning Grian. The room they arrived in looked like the void Grian had been to many times, whether in his dreams or how he got to Hermitcraft.

“ _ Why the pout, my child? Are you too attached to your little home _ ?” she poked Grian on the nose.

Grian glared at her. Out of frustration and faith, Grian created a fire circle around himself, a clear warning to not come near.

Tiamat ignored the signs and stepped closer to Grian, floating above him and making herself fearful. It worked on Grian, for the Hermit (or Ex-Hermit) took a step back.

“What did you want, you psycho?!” Grian cried. His face was red and his eyes were watery. 

“ _ I want you to come with me. You see, a war is going in between our colonies, and you are part of the  _ _ Dragisins _ _. Your wings show that, as well as your fire that you so kindly demonstrated for me. Every member must be present, and you are missing. Come with me and you’ll be fine, or not, and you’ll pay _ .”

Grian shook his head. 

“I’ll  _ never  _ listen to you! You-you take me from my home for this!?” he scowled. 

“ _ I’m taking you for the better, Xelqua. I’m making you better than you ever were, and you should be thankful for tha _ t.”

“No.” Grian said. “I’m not  _ thankful _ . You’re such a jerk.”

“ _ Well you, X, are pitiful and spoiled. You need to face reality. The war is going on, and you will be treated as an equal with us. You can show everyone who you are and be proud of it. You can finally take it out and be part of something bigger. Now doesn't that sound nice? You can be royal now, be part of a community just like you. You, my ruby, can be free with us. What do you say _ ?”

“I never will. Not once.” Grian shook his head.

“ _ Well, Grian _ .” Tiamat said, which made him afraid to hear the name he wanted to go by. “ _ I’ll give you a shot, but remember... _ ”

She turned around, one arm behind her back and the other with her palm open and flame ignited. Above it was a hologram of Taurtis’ checkered headphones, so unique and distinguishable from any other normal pair.

“ _ Nothing lasts forever. _ ” 

The queen shut her fist and the headphones shattered into pieces. 

Grian ran towards her with all his rage, but before he could touch her he was transported to one of his base’s towers and began falling off. He only had enough strength to briskly fly to his 2rd floor of his base.

* * *

Grian closed his wings. He rushed over to the glass and was relieved to see he was back in his normal clothes again, knowing by his reflection. Grian walked over to the hole in the center of the room and looked down. He could hear some murmuring, so he drank an invisibility potion and dropped down gracefully.

Near the entrance of his infinity room were Xisuma, Mumbo, and Iskall. Xisuma was typing on his communicator frantically while Mumbo was hugging Iskall, tears falling onto the Swede’s hoodie. All Iskall did was smile and tell his friend that ‘he’ll be back soon’ and ‘don’t worry Mumbo, please don't cry’ and ‘great, you’re gonna make me cry.’

Grian drank some milk and walked over to the three. His potion effect wore off and he waved awkwardly to them.

“Hey.” he waved nonchalantly. 

Mumbo’s head shot up, the tears still flowing down like a tsunami.

“Grian!” he exclaimed, a smile spreading on his face.

Mumbo ran full speed towards G, wrapping his arms around him in a hug. “I missed you so, so much!!”

Grian smiled sadly. “Missed you too.”

Mumbo pulled away remembering Grian hated hugs. “Where did you go? One second you’re there and the next--” 

Mumbo paused and looked down at his friend.

“Who was she?” he asked seriously, wiping away his tears.

Grian looked at the other two hermits, he knew he had some explaining to do...and a lot. But to be honest, he didn’t want to. Now to find a way out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> C:


	13. I've Been So Good This Year

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've been so good  
> But it's still getting harder  
> I've been so good  
> Where the heck is the karma?  
> I've been so good"
> 
> Grian has been confronted about his interaction with Tiamat. Now it's time to tell the truth. Or will he? And will they understand?

“Grian...” Xisuma began. 

He headed towards the scared Dragon, arms out as if he was to approach a scared animal.

Grian stepped back. Sweat ran down the side of his face and he was shaking violently. Iskall got up behind the admin, and Mumbo began to approach G, a concerned expression on his face.

“N-no!” Grian yelled, trembling, “This is  _ my  _ problem, and I don’t need  _ anything  _ from you! N-nothing at all!”

X stepped closer.

“You need to tell us what happened so we can help you. Mumbo told us what he saw, and his emotions when he saw it. Now it’s your turn. We just want to help.”

G backed up further and flew out the window with his elytra. He took off into the air.

“Grian, wait up!” Iskall exclaimed, grabbing his own elytra and taking off after him, the other two trailing ever so slightly behind.

“Stop!” Grian yelled, looking back. 

He flew through a huge hole behind the stock exchange and through the Shopping District. Iskall flew behind him quickly, almost catching his arm at some points to stop him.

Grian pulled up over the ocean and took off his elytra. He began falling into the water below with a big splash, eyes closed.

“ _ GRIA N _ _!_ ” Iskall screeched. 

He dove into the water, and so did the other two hermits.

Grian swam to his ship in a bottle and slipped through the cap. He hid inside his ship.

* * *

Mumbo was the fastest swimmer out of the three, so he was chosen to lead the group and find Grian, though scanning the ocean for him felt wrong. Notwithstanding, they looked around the ocean and were relieved when Mumbo saw a foggy red dot through the tinted grey glass.

The three friends climbed into the bottle and headed towards Grian. Mumbo decided to speak to Grian first, then they’d see if they got any information out of him.

“Grian.” Mumbo said in a soft voice. “You can tell us, promise. Look, I don’t know what happened in the infinity room but if you tell me I’m sure we can-”

“Please.” Grian interrupted. He was crying, and a lot, which worried his friend. “Please, just-just stop.”

“Grian, I’m here for you.  _ We’re  _ here for you. If you tell us, we’ll try to make it better, okay?”

Grian sighed shakily. He looked up at Mumbo who had a kind smile, though he wasn’t sure he could trust people anymore.

“F-fine.” Grian gave in. 

He stood up slowly and looked at his friends.

Stepping out of the ship part of the bottle with Mumbo’s help, the four hermits stood in the artificial grass. The three waited patiently for Grian to speak.

Grian sighed and opened his wings. They tore through his sweater and hurt him, but he thought it was necessary, since he didn’t want to take off his shirt in front of these three adults who just wanted to help him.

He showed them who gasped at the sight, their eyes widening at him.

“I-I’m a  Dragisin, and-and I know I’m not like you and I might be a threat but I came here from a hole in Tokyo three months ago and you all were so welcoming and I forgot my origins and now we can get hurt because of me and it’s all my fault and-”

“Grian, calm down.”

Mumbo put G’s hand in his and covered it with his other hand, making a comforting cage around his left hand. It caught his attention and stopped his rambling.

“B-but-”

“Grian, it’s okay. You’re not putting us in danger.”

“Yes, I am!” Grian broke down to tears.

Mumbo kneeled down to get to Grian’s eye level, still with G’s hand in his.

“How are you putting us in danger, G? Can you tell us?”

He nodded. “T-Tiamat was the one who met me in the infinity room. She-she told me that there’s a war and if I didn’t go there would be consequences. I didn’t go. I-I’m scared that I'll lose you guys and T-Taurtis.”

“Who’s Taurtis?” Xisuma asked.

“T-Taurtis is my best friend from Tokyo. I-I miss him. When I left there t-that one day and appeared here, h-he didn’t know. I-I left him and I can’t return, and he might be looking for me...and I c-can’t tell him I’m here.”

“Well,” Mumbo smiled sweetly, tightening the grip on G’s hand. “How do you think you’ll lose him?”

“W-Well...Tiamat crushed his h-headphones and t-told me nothing lasts forever.”

Mumbo moved his hand on the crying hermit’s shoulder and pulled him in for a hug, although G didn’t give in. Xisuma and Iskall came next to him, too. 

Grian cried into Mumbo’s suit for a few minutes, feeling all his emotions and thoughts come out at once. 

“So, yeah, n-now you know.”

Mumbo let go of the hug and rose back up to his full height. He looked down at his friend. 

“Can I show you something?” he asked, calmly.

Grian nodded and looked up. Mumbo shut his eyes and began to smile as two yellow horns appeared through his hair.

“W-what?” Grian stared, dazed.

“You’re not alone, Grian. You are not the only Mytholegend that has to make a choice.” He smiled at the dragon.

“Yeah.” Iskall piped in. “You’re not the only one, G.” 

As Iskall spoke, his right arm turned to green slime.

X looked at Grian. “Truth is, you don’t need to be afraid. We know what you’re going through because we’ve all dealt with it before. If you give us a chance and open up, we can help you.” 

Xisuma smiled as a long, beige tail appeared out of his back.

“W-wow.” Grian looked down at his shoes. “I had no idea. I-I’m so stupid, I should’ve been open f-from the start.”

“It’s okay.” the admin said. “We’re just glad you told us  _ now. _ Also, you’re not stupid, you’re perfect.”

“We all had to make a choice about the war, but we chose what felt right to us, staying with our community.” Mumbo smiled.

“I-is everyone like us?” asked Grian, still stunned.

Xisuma nodded. “Everyone is a Mytholegend. We just don’t use that to judge who’s allowed in. To us, the power is extra, what really matters is in your heart. Even if you weren’t like us, we still would’ve let you stay. That’s why we let you here when you first joined, anyway.”

Grian looked outside the glass. “O-okay. B-but, if she really  _ does _ want to hurt us, how can we protect ourselves and-and Taurtis?”

Mumbo smiled. “We’ll find a way.”

“We always do.” Iskall said.

“One last question.”

“Ask away.”

Grian looked at X. “Like...t-this place is good and all...but will I ever go back home?”

Xisuma looked at him with a sad smile through his helmet. “Unfortunately, that I cannot answer. But I promise one day, you will...”

“Yeah.” Grian sighed. “It was worth a shot though.”

G looked at the three magical hermits in front of him. 

_ Thank you. _ he mouthed. 

The three smiled as if to say “Your welcome.”

* * *

“Well,” Mumbo chuckled. “When you’re feeling better, G, wanna come to my base? I’m baking a batch of cookies!”

“How many?” Iskall interrupted.

“A stack.” Mumbo smirked.

“Can I go?”

“Sure Iskall, only if you bring the eggs.”

“Deal!”

Iskall swam out of the bottle quickly and shot towards the sky. 

“Can I be of any help, Mumbo?” X asked.

“Yes, can you get me some milk?”

"It would be a pleasure." X nodded. 

He swam out of the bottle and waved bye to the two hermits.

* * *

Grian began walking to the exit of his bottle when Mumbo grabbed his arm.

"Grian." he looked at the dragon.

"Yeah?" Grian replied. His tears were beginning to dry up.

"Remember what I said, okay? If you ever need to talk to someone or if you feel down, you can talk to me or Iskall or Xisuma or  _ anybody _ . Really, we're always there for you and I hope you can be more open and ask for help when you need it, okay? Trust me, we're here for you, G. Remember that. We love you.”

Grian nodded as he wiped the excess tears from his eyes. "I'll try to remember that."

Mumbo patted Grian's back softly. "I hope so."

The redstoner swam out of the bottle. He waved bye to the builder and went on his way.

* * *

Grian headed back in his base. Walking right past Codswallop without even saying hello, (like he usually did), he fell back in the infinity room.

He took a deep breath and walked forward.

"Queen Tiamat, I want to make a deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Plot. Points.
> 
> And yes, reference to "Karma" by AJR. Listen to the song. It is AMAZING!
> 
> This chapter, this BIG reveal, well, this will make the story better.
> 
> And Xisuma, Iskall, And Mumbo's powers will further be explored in the next couple of chapters. Make some theories about what you think the powers are!
> 
> Recap:
> 
> Mumbo has small, yellow horns.  
> Xisuma has a beige tail of an unidentified animal of sorts.  
> Iskall is able to turn his left arm to slime.  
> And Grian has wings and fire.
> 
> Do with this what you will. 
> 
> Can't wait to pick up the story! Bye!


End file.
